For the Beauty of the Earth

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

from: For the Beauty of the Earth by Fol­li­ot Pier­point

This tune sounds heavenly when it is sung in the film, Little Women. Have you watched it lately? I think I will today. I need a walk in the brisk December air, a cup of tea or two, a snuggle under the quilt and a sleepy read of something heavenly. I'm very grateful for rest, for candle light, for cookie baking, for coffee, for knitting, for colorful artwork, for my soft rest last night. Later on today, two little girls will join us for the evening and a sleep. They smell so good, they smile so prettily, they laugh and they whine. Their parents will celebrate their anniversary downtown where the lights sparkle and the restaurants cook up wonderful holiday treats.

Here are some blurbs gleaned from Music of Silence:

. . . a life of love, listening and responding to God

. . . time as an opportunity or encounter

. . . the hours - the inner structure for living consciously and responsively through the stages of the day.

. . . the voices and the inaudible echo.

. . . the original hour was a soul measure.

As children anxiously wish for time to speed up so that Friday will come, we grownups wish for time to slow as we tend to our souls.
I pray a pocket of peace finds you today.